UAAP: NU holds off struggling UST

PJ Palacielo and Mo Diassana celebrate during NU’s win over UST in UAAP Season 89.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 89  basketball tournament – second round

MANILA, Philippines—National University maintained its grip on the second seed in the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament with a 75-71 win over the University of Santo Tomas at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

The Bulldogs bounced back from a 69-65 loss to Ateneo on Wednesday to improve to a 7-3 record, just a half game behind top-seeded State U at 7-2.

“[It’s a] good win for us, definitely. Firstly, UST is not just another team. They’re still contenders,” coach Jeff Napa said of the Growling Tigers, who lost their third straight game.

“It’s a good thing that the team’s effort showed up today. From start to finish, we had our troubles, but they changed their mentality and took the challenges.”

NU held a comfortable 71-64 lead after a PJ Palacielo basket with 2:41 remaining.

UST, however, went down swinging after Collins Akowe’s short stab ignited a late 7-2 run and Amiel Acido capping it with a pair of freebies that cut the Tigers’ deficit to two, 73-71, with seven seconds remaining.

Palacielo, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds, kept the Tigers at bay when he split his free throws twice in the final 6.2 ticks. He grabbed his own miss in his first trip to the line that led to his game-sealing free throw with three seconds left.

While he split his freebies, he got his own board and went to the line again for another split but it was just enough to send UST to a lowly 4-6 record.

Mo Diassana dominated for NU with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Kenshin Padrones also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Tebol Garcia chipped in 12.

The Bulldogs completed an elimination round sweep of the Tigers, whom they beat 87-85 on a game-winning triple by Reinhard Jumamoy in overtime on Oct. 10.

Acido finished with 13 points for UST, which dropped to 4-6. Mark Llemit had 12 while Akowe and Andrew Chio tallied 11 points a piece.